This invention relates to a system, apparatus and method for enabling a participant to interact in a virtual environment and, particularly, a system, apparatus and method for enabling a participant to engage in attention-based interaction in a virtual environment.
The high-volume, consumer electronics market segment is progressing toward the integration of computer-based advances and traditional audio/video products. Among the computer-based advances, networking systems (e.g., the Internet) offer new opportunities in diverse fields, including entertainment, education, information search, and social interaction. Traditional audio and video offers ease of use and consumer comfort and acceptance in the home, particularly the family room.
One approach to this integration would rely on virtual environments. Virtual environments comprise computer-generated, generally three-dimensional representations of a real, physical setting or scene. The setting/scene can be a city, a mall, an individual store, a building, a suite of offices, an individual office or some other space. The representations can be more or less realistic both in terms of their rendering of the real world and in terms of the human senses that are supported.
In any case, a virtual environment generally comprises virtual objects, the objects typically including entities that are animate or inanimate. Inanimate entities may include features of the environment, such as, for example, walls of a virtual office that are always inanimate walls in the office. Animate entities may include so-called avatars and bots. Bots, broadly, are images that, generally, operate autonomously from the participants, performing predetermined tasks or providing features within the environment. A bot can include, for example, a wall that transforms to deliver incoming messages. An avatar, by comparison, generally is an image that represents, and is controlled by, a participant. An avatar, typically supports one or more of body gestures, facial expressions, speech and motion.
However configured, a virtual environment generally beckons its participants to become immersed in the sensory experience it provides. To do so, the participants interact with the environment""s objects. As an example, social interaction between participants is conducted by interaction among such participants"" avatars, the interaction occurring, e.g., as the avatars"" paths converge during a stroll in a virtual park. As another example, a participant can direct their avatar to interact with a bot so that, from the interaction, participant obtains certain desired information. In both such examples, a participant generally interacts through their avatar.
The quality of the participant""s experience depends, broadly, on the quality of interaction supported by the environment. In that regard, studies of existing virtual environments have indicated that the quality of social interaction between participants is a dominant factor in determining whether participants are stimulated to repeatedly visit a virtual environment. The studies have also shown that the quality of social interactions depends on support, in avatars, of facial expressions, as well as other body language, generally associated with face-to-face encounters in the real world
Notwithstanding the studies"" findings, however, current virtual environments either fail to support or inadequately support social interaction between participants. To improve the quality of social interaction supported, several challenges are to be met. One such challenge is enabling natural, socially-acceptable protocols for sessions of interaction. Such protocols should allow participants to feel and/or to become socially comfortable in the virtual environment. Generally, however, conventional virtual environments fail to support such protocols. As an example, conventional virtual environments tend to over-emphasize a participant""s ability to command attention from another participant, which protocol is neither sufficiently natural nor adequately socially-acceptable. As another example, conventional virtual environments tend to inadequately support pair-wise conversation in group-social settings (e.g. parties). In these setting, when conversation is via text (i.e., chat), messages typically are displayed in a fixed portion of the display screen as issued by one or more participants. When conversation is via audio, plural participants may be talking concurrently, and all at substantially the same volume. Accordingly, in both cases, the tide of messages from all sources tends to be confusing. Moreover, a particular message from a desirable source may be lost to a participant awaiting its arrival, e.g., the message may pass before the participant recognizes it.
In addition to enabling adequate protocols, another challenge to the support of social interaction in virtual environments is management of resource loading. Particularly with communication and rendering of multimedia data, conventional virtual environments tend to overload and/or inadequately allocate resources. Such overloading and mis-allocation, in turn, generally impedes support of social interaction via multimedia, e.g. via speech, music, environmental sound, facial and gesture animation, and/or video.
Accordingly, a need exists, in the context of virtual environments, for a system that overcomes the shortcomings of conventional virtual environment technologies, particularly as to social interaction, individually and together with rendering and data communication.
An object of this invention is to provide a virtual environment that overcomes the shortcomings associated with social interaction.
Another object of this invention is to provide a system implementing attention-based social interaction among objects in a virtual environment, while also supporting priority-based rendering and data communication in that virtual environment.
According to one aspect of the invention, a system is provided that enables participants in a virtual environment to easily select a partner and to have an interaction session with the selected partner though respective objects, e.g., avatars. The system comprises an avatar attention component. The avatar attention component is attention based in that it employs an attention sense space and an attention focus space. The sense space comprises a sense cone, the sense cone being both contained by a sense sphere and having a sense vector along its axis. The attention focus space comprises a focus cone, the focus cone being both contained by a focus sphere and having a focus vector along its axis.
In one embodiment, the attention component is associated with avatar sight. The attention sense space is a scanning space that comprises a vision cone, the vision cone being both contained by a vision sphere and having a vision vector along its axis. The attention focus space is a gaze space that comprises a gaze cone, the gaze cone being both contained by a focus sphere and having a gaze vector along its axis.
In another embodiment, the attention component is associated with a non-sight sense, e.g., hearing. In yet another embodiment, plural attention sense spaces are provided, e.g., one associated with sight and another associated with a non-sight sense, such as hearing. In this latter case, each sense preferably has associated therewith respective sense and focus spaces.
The avatar attention component preferably is configured to support intentional interactions (interactions driven by defined explicit controls) and spontaneous interactions (interactions driven by non-intentional encounters, e.g., spontaneous xe2x80x9ceyexe2x80x9d contact between avatars), both individually and together. Spontaneous interaction can arise, among other conditions, when two objects are in each other""s respective focus spaces. The avatar attention component preferably employs the sense and focus spaces, particularly the cones and vectors thereof, so as to enable computations associated with attention to be relatively fast. The avatar attention component preferably employs an interaction control engine so as to enable enhanced handling of dynamicism of objects in the environment, e.g., position change and attention drift of an interacting avatar, as well as interruptions from non-interacting objects.
The system also preferably comprises a priority component. The priority component determines priorities for avatars and objects, such that highest priority avatars/objects have (a) enhanced rendering (e.g., enhancement of resolution, frame rate, colors and/or other qualities) as to the senses and dimensions supported by the system and (b) increased quality of service from networks and operating systems. The priority component preferably is responsive to selected parameters, including, for example, one or more of (i) objects"" relative positions, (ii) the direction, orientation and span of sense and focus spaces, (iii) participants"" profiles, (iv) parameters set by developers and/or participants, (v) social parameters, (vi) economic models and (vii) combinations of these and other selected parameters. As a consequence of priority assignments, rendering not only is reduced in overall complexity (e.g., reduced system loading associated with computation and communication of multimedia data), but also can be integrated with social factors, including factors related to interaction.
In some embodiments, the system employs only the attention component. In other embodiments, the system employs both the attention and the priority components.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which its preferred embodiments are illustrated and described, wherein like reference numerals identify the same or similar elements.